Interesting... There's another forum I frequent that is very supportive of "gig reports" (that's often the start of the subject) so I guess I'm just used to the "in the trenches" kind of sharing that goes on in that community. Not all forum threads have to be in the ask a question, have it answered format.

Steve, I keep coming back to this thread at night while I'm laying in bed. I haven't watched the video with sound since I don't think the wife would be too happy about it, but from visual only it's very decent. My only real suggestion would be to trade the fogger for a hazer and let the stage area fill a bit. I can see some beamage at the beginning, but a decent hazer will make that rig come to life! Again, for your first concert and with the time constraints you really pulled it off. In the end the only thing that matters was if the client was happy. And since you saved the day I'm sure they were. So good job.

I watched a minute or so of the video. Notes that I would give you are, slow the fuck down with the "flash and trash". Nobody likes that much strobing. If you do strobe, don't do the whole stage. Leave a back color wash up while the movers strobe. This will keep you musicians happy because they'll be able to see things, like each other and what not.

Also try a few more addresses in your par cans. Having all one color for every can on stage is cool about 8% of the time. Try using some color combos that are both complimentary or contrasting. Go back to your grade school color wheel to figure that out.

Rule number one for front lighting. Light the people. You need enough cans to light up the musicians down front before you put cans in the rear.

Also in that vein, the moving lights work better when they are in the rear. I would have put all four movers on the back truss and moved 4 of the pucks down front. I probably would've opted to forego the truss warmers in order to have more cans on the stage. 3 Pucks and 4 movers on the rear truss would be good, and that leaves you 8 pucks to put downstage (front edge of stage).

I also feel like the movers were kind of wasted because they were just always in la-la land spinning around over head. Were you using the built in macros? That's a very DJ thing to do. Get those things down on the stage or in the crowd where they will do some good.

I don't want you to feel like I'm bagging on you here. I think it was a valiant attempt at rock and roll lighting. Just trying to give you some pointers for next time.

Yes, He has a couple hundred more lights than you do, but the same principles apply. Notice how the stage never *really* goes dark. Plus notice how much movement you get when the intelligent lights aren't really moving at all...

« Last Edit: March 30, 2012, 03:28:55 pm by Tim Weaver »

Logged

Bullwinkle: This is the amplifier, which amplifies the sound. This is the Preamplifier which, of course, amplifies the pree's.

Tim,Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. Honestly, I brought 20 pucks, but didn't have enough clamps, I normally don't fly my pucks, I usually use them for uplighting. I appreciate all of the tips, and wish I had the time to properly program the heads. There were no Macros used, all of the moving head scenes are ones I normally use on the dancefloor when I am DJing. I will adjust the strobing in the future. They actually requested the random strobe during the start up. They didn't want to be seen until the song kicked in. But I admit I did overuse strobe effects throughout the night. Next time I shall do better, thanks to you guys, helping me learn from my mistakes. Thanks alot.

Tim,Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. Honestly, I brought 20 pucks, but didn't have enough clamps, I normally don't fly my pucks, I usually use them for uplighting. I appreciate all of the tips, and wish I had the time to properly program the heads. There were no Macros used, all of the moving head scenes are ones I normally use on the dancefloor when I am DJing. I will adjust the strobing in the future. They actually requested the random strobe during the start up. They didn't want to be seen until the song kicked in. But I admit I did overuse strobe effects throughout the night. Next time I shall do better, thanks to you guys, helping me learn from my mistakes. Thanks alot.

Light up the artists... follow spots would be nice ... i couldn't see the band! otherwise, good job.

What was said above. There is just too much stuff all changing at one time. It's all blue, then it's all red, then there's crazy near-ceasure inducing strobe lights. It's a concert, not a rave.

Use more addresses for your instruments, and then change them in smaller groups. Blend different colours together. Try to create more continuity from one 'scene' to the next by sharing colour or beam characteristics.